Congress assured us support on 3 Lok Sabha seats in Valley: Omar
Omar said that NC president Farooq Abdullah was not present at the function as he was campaigning for the two Congress candidates in Jammu
A day after Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said that her party would field candidates from all three Lok Sabha seats of Kashmir, National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Thursday said that Congress will support NC candidates.
The NC and the PDP are constituents of the INDIA bloc and the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD). The Congress, which is contesting on two Jammu seats, Udhampur and Jammu, is being supported by the NC and the PDP, which has put the grand old party’s leadership in a dilemma.
“The Congress informed us that all three candidates of the NC will get full support. Some things can’t be shared with you at this time. In coming days, after going to New Delhi, it will be clear that NC and the Congress will contest together on five seats in J&K,” Omar said on the sidelines of a function in Srinagar.
Omar said that NC president Farooq Abdullah was not present at the function as he was campaigning for the two Congress candidates in Jammu. “My programmes are scheduled for coming days. We will work hard to see the Congress candidates winning on both seats,” he added.
The Congress leadership has maintained silence on the issue. The Congress has a sizeable vote bank in all three seats of Kashmir, especially the Anantnag segment where it emerged as runners up in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
“If they (PDP and NC) have issues, they can have a friendly contest on three Kashmir seats,” said Congress general secretary Mir Iqbal. “It would have been better if the NC and the PDP had jointly contested polls,” he added.
Sources within the Congress said that a majority of leaders in the region want it to support the NC instead of the PDP. “Most of our leadership are favouring the NC. The party high command is in dilemma now. Things will be clear within couple of days,” said a senior Congress leader, requesting anonymity.
Communist Party of India (CPI Marxist), which holds a good clout in some pockets of Anantnag, has decided not to contest Lok Sabha polls and help the INDIA bloc candidates.
The party leaders are also in a fix, whether to support the NC or the PDP. It is likely that PDP chief and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti would contest from Anantnag. Mehbooba was elected twice as an MP from Anantnag. CPI(M) general secretary MY Tarigami, who is four time former legislator from Kulgam in south Kashmir, has close associations with Muftis and Abdullahs.
“We will talk very soon on this issue,” said Tarigami, who is also spokesperson of the PAGD.
